It is clear that not all individuals who experience stressful social events and circumstances fall ill or experience significant psychological distress as a result. The major resistance resources investigated as buffers against the deleterious effects of stressors have been social supports and psychological coping styles. A number of other factors, such as membership in voluntary organizations, number of close friends, support of a confidant, and moderate alcohol consumption, have also been suggested as stressor buffers. Few studies have examined more than two or three of these resistance resources simultaneously, despite the plausible assumption that individuals combine diverse resources in the ongoing process of adaptation.
The aim of the research proposed here is to examine a wide variety of resistance resources, including social network variables, perceived social support, psychological coping styles, and other factors, using multivariate technique to order to define an underlying dimension of adaptation. Two sets of data collected from a single community will be used. The first set of data will be used for the derivation of a resistance resources function, using discriminant function analysis. The second set of data will be used to independently validate the function. This research will contribute to a more refined understanding of those factors in the social environment and those individual beliefs and attitudes that in concert help to protect individuals from the deleterious effects of stressful events and circumstances.
| Dressler, W W (1993) Type A behavior: contextual effects within a southern black community. Soc Sci Med 36:289-95 |
| Dressler, W W (1991) Social support, lifestyle incongruity, and arterial blood pressure in a southern black community. Psychosom Med 53:608-20 |
| Dressler, W W (1991) Social class, skin color, and arterial blood pressure in two societies. Ethn Dis 1:60-77 |
| Dressler, W W (1990) Lifestyle, stress, and blood pressure in a southern black community. Psychosom Med 52:182-98 |
